03/17/2010 Thunder @ Bobcats (regular season 66 of 82)

[KDisNotNice]

Oklahoma City Thunder (41-24) at Charlotte Bobcats (34-32), 6pm Central time tipoff on Wednesday night.

This is the second of two meetings this season between these teams. The Thunder won in OKC 98-91 on December 26th.

The game will be shown on KSBI-TV, Thunder TV.

The Thunder have won 17 of their last 20 games overall and are 19-13 on the road this season. They also have won 5 in a row (for the third time this season). This is the first game of a 3 game road trip for OKC.

The Bobcats are 24-8 at home this season but had a 6 game (overall) winning streak snapped on Tuesday night at Indiana.

[brianok87]

This is going to be a tough one. They lost to Indiana but, they are also a bad road team so it's not as much as a surprise as it is just another road game. They beast at home.

99 - Thundercats
98 - Bobcats

tiebreaker, Gforce gets double double

[Tx Thunder]

Thunder 97
tomcats 94

[Tordön]

:okc: 100
Robertcats 95

[Colonel Thunder]

:okc: 102
B2B Bobcats 94

[OKCDrummer77]

:okc: 106
CHA 101

[jaybreezy]

Bobcats 102
Thunder 94

[HotRocNRol]

:okc: are favored by 1 1/2; o/u @ 191

OKC = 97
CHA = 94

[Rumble]

thunder: 95

sourcats: 91

[chuck]

:okc: 96
Cha 92

[okcadmin]

tiebreaker, Gforce gets double double

I'm drawing a blank here. Who is G-Force?

[KDisNotNice]

The Bobcats' Gerald Wallace missed their last 2 games including Tuesday night. It remains to be seen if he plays Wednesday against the Thunder.

[Chelfspace]

Tossing my hat (as I almost never wear it) into the ring. Here's mud in yer eye!

Thunder: 103
Bobcats: 93

[McThunderLovin]

Thunder - 107

Hello Kitty - 104

Tie Breaker - RW0 gets a triple double.

[Tydude]

Thunder 100
Bobcats 97

[Blaine4oh5]

Thunder-103
Jordan Cats-95

[Rod4soonrs]

cats 96-92

[Grendel_Knight1974]

It will be the sixth game in nine nights for Charlotte and the second game of a back-to-back, most likely without one of their top-two players in Gerald Wallace.

Honestly this is one game that I would be stunned if OKC lost. Charlotte is a good team but not as good as OKC and should be pretty worn down by the third quarter. Look for it to be close at halftime and for OKC to have a double-digit lead by the end of the third quarter.


Prediction:

OKC 101
Charlotte 93

[Thunderhead]

:okc:98
Bobcats 93

[KDisNotNice]

I like the tone of this Yahoo Sports preview of the game tonight:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview?gid=2010031730


With the Oklahoma City Thunder closing in on the franchise’s first playoff berth since 2005, the emerging Western Conference contender may have to readjust its goals down the stretch.

Simply qualifying for the postseason would be good enough for the Charlotte Bobcats.

Charlotte, however, will have a difficult task as it tries to bounce back from its first loss in two weeks Wednesday night against the visiting Thunder, who’ve won five in a row and 17 of 20 and can secure a winning season with another victory.

After going 43-121 over their previous two seasons, the Thunder (41-24) have solidified their status as the NBA’s most improved club during their recent run, which continued with Sunday’s 119-111 victory over Utah.

The Jazz remain in fourth place in the conference, but Oklahoma City pulled even with Utah in the loss column and could realistically earn home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, which would be a major surprise in the deep, competitive West.

“I think if we continue to keep playing and keep playing the way we are, we’re going to keep moving up,” said point guard Russell Westbrook.(continued at : )
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview?gid=2010031730

[lloyd]

Thunder - 102
Bobcats - 96

[thebig3]

Okc 105
cha 95

[Thunderstruck83]

I'm gonna say that Wallace sits out and we steal a game that they really need to win...

Thunder - 102
Bobcats - 98

[brianok87]

I'm drawing a blank here. Who is G-Force?

Gerald Wallace. If he's out then that's -10 rebounds for the Bobcats.

[Thunderdomesooner]

:okc: 101
Nascar lovers 97

[Jimmy Early]

It will be the sixth game in nine nights for Charlotte and the second game of a back-to-back, most likely without one of their top-two players in Gerald Wallace.

Honestly this is one game that I would be stunned if OKC lost. Charlotte is a good team but not as good as OKC and should be pretty worn down by the third quarter. Look for it to be close at halftime and for OKC to have a double-digit lead by the end of the third quarter.


Prediction:

OKC 101
Charlotte 93


Ditto for me.

[RicanThunder]

THUNDER - 99
MJ's pussies - 94

[Choda Boy]

Thunder - 89
Cats - 78

[SPARTAN]

:okc: Thundercats 109
College hoops' bitch 94

The Wall Street Journal's ridiculous new sports page is picking Charlotte, but go figure, for a sports page written by financial advisers. If it weren't for the bold prediction in the WSJ I'd feel a little iffy about going to the home court of a team on the rise.

[RabThunderFan09]

Ohhhh goodie goodie *rubs hands together in excitement*

Uh Thunder uh...100
and uh babycats...95

And today I go for my second consecutive Victory! I'm comin for you ROD

[KDisNotNice]

Thunder 91
Bobcats 96

tiebreaker: 15 (Points/Rebounds by Collison)

[Plainsman]

Awww ... right now ........................ here we go Thunder , here we go !!

[Urukgali]

OKC 91
Cha 89

[Plainsman]

Started off right .

[RicanThunder]

We did a horrible job closing out the half. We were up by 18 with about 2 minutes to go in the half and now we are only up by 8 at halftime.

Dammit!!!! C'mon guys.

[Urukgali]

Very nice 1st half apart from the end ;(

[BETCATS]

I havent been on here in a while (due to lack of time) but this is my favorite season series. The runs both sides are going on is intense!

This is probably the only game that i am not indifferent on where i can be happy if either team wins.

[RicanThunder]

I was wondering about you BETCATS. Knew you'd return for this game though.

[BETCATS]

yeah i am putting my homework off until later to watch this.
Its worth it though:D

[RicanThunder]

This is definitely where we miss Harden. A couple 3's from him would have completely changed the dynamics of this game.

[Urukgali]

We miss Harden indeed and Bobcats are doing fine without Wallace.They are playing very good defense.Durant got blocked 5 times ! It is not looking good but let's hope we win.

[Urukgali]

I'm affraid we lost ;( 8 points behind and less then 2 minutes to go ;/

[Urukgali]

Bad game for OKC.Bad game for KD and RW0(excluding 1st qarter and most of the second).Russell had got 6 assist with 0 TO's and he finnishes with 10/5 and also got blocked 3 times.I don't remember Durant's FG% in the 2nd half but it was like 4/16(0/7 from 3 point line).
We got outscored 41:57 in the second half.That is really really bad.
I liked Collison's game though and also Green was playing nice.

[ouvic]

WTH happened?!

One of the worst stretches of Thunder ball, INCLUDING last season! We had a 19 point lead with 2 mins left in the 1st half, and let a late-half run do us in? Immaturity showed tonight...hate to say it, but we looked beaten coming out to start the 2nd half & played like we were...which were were...beaten!

Damn I haven't been this pissed after watching a Thunder game since game 1 of last season. Hope the players & coaches feel the same way.

TTFU!

[Durantulosha]

All I can say is WOW. That's what you call JIVING your way to a loss. That just became the single worst, most embarassing loss of the year for us. I love my guys and I give them much love for showing tremendous improvement, winning alot of games, and positioning themselves to be in the playoffs.....but tonight was a big BOO. One great quarter doesn't equal a victory. Come on guys, get it together. These are the kind of games you need to win. Don't go back to your old ways now. Man the FREAK up! Let's go.

[KDisNotNice]

We lost to one of the top teams in their home in the NBA. The Bobcats are now 25-8 at home. Sure, we had all the momentum late in the 2nd quarter but this can be a wake up call for our team. This was not even close to the bad losses of last season where we were as good as beaten once the game started. It's one of our worst losses of THIS season but we can turn things around on this roadtrip easily.

[ouvic]

We lost to one of the top teams in their home in the NBA. The Bobcats are now 25-8 at home. Sure, we had all the momentum late in the 2nd quarter but this can be a wake up call for our team. This was not even close to the bad losses of last season where we were as good as beaten once the game started. It's one of our worst losses of THIS season but we can turn things around on this roadtrip easily.

Thunder gave up almost 70 pts in the last 26 minutes against team that flatout cannot shoot....AFTER we were up 19 at that point in time. That turns out to be a horrible loss, considering how good this team is NOW. Don't sugar coat this one...it could be damaging, but probably won't. I expect this team to respond with 2 wins to complete this road trip. Reminds me of the Denver game 2 weeks ago. Like you said a "wake up call"...this one in a totally different way, but hopefully has the same effect.

[RicanThunder]

This was not even close to the bad losses of last season where we were as good as beaten once the game started. It's one of our worst losses of THIS season but we can turn things around on this roadtrip easily.

It is time to stop comparing everything to last season. Mentally, this is a completely different team. They are on a higher plane. We are now a bonafided playoff team. Any comparison with this team has to come from this season.

And this was probably the worst loss of the season. Not in terms of how much we lost by. The Denver loss, the Boston loss, and the Orlando loss on the road all come to mind. But instead, how we lost the game (especially considering the time of year it is). We were up by 18 with 2 minutes to play in the first half. We were playing the first half with a killer instinct. And then all the sudden, we let our foot off the gas, got comfortable and coasted the final 2 minutes of the half. And what happened...the Bobcats trimmed the 18 point lead to 8 at half time and had ALLLLLLLLL!!!!! the momentum going into the second half. We never recovered after that. We are not yet good enough to let our foot off the gas.

This loss hurt the most because while all the other playoff teams are ratcheting up, we had a game, that was a victory, slip out of our hands because we lolly gagged. I, from what I've seen THIS season, expect better, and I hope the players and coaches feel the same way now.

[Urukgali]

We were playing the first half with a killer instinct. And then all the sudden, we let our foot off the gas We are not yet good enough to let our foot off the gas.

Sadly it became some kind of habbit for our team lately.The players feel too comfortable with the score and then rapidly are loosing a lot of points giving opponent chance to chase us.That's totally unacceptable.Tonight's game is a proof that there are moments during matches when it's hard to score and hard to defend.That's why you need to have the biggest points advantage as possibille.It will eventually kill enemie's hopes to play and that's when the game is won.


I, from what I've seen THIS season, expect better, and I hope the players and coaches feel the same way now.

Totally agree! We know how good Thunder is and that's why we can expect more from them.The reason we lost was not because we are worse team.It was because of bad attitude and being immature in some ways.We need our players to grow up fast for the playoffs and just focus on taking the biggest lead every game !

[Thunderus]

It is time to stop comparing everything to last season. Mentally, this is a completely different team. They are on a higher plane. We are now a bonafided playoff team. Any comparison with this team has to come from this season.

And this was probably the worst loss of the season. Not in terms of how much we lost by. The Denver loss, the Boston loss, and the Orlando loss on the road all come to mind. But instead, how we lost the game (especially considering the time of year it is). We were up by 18 with 2 minutes to play in the first half. We were playing the first half with a killer instinct. And then all the sudden, we let our foot off the gas, got comfortable and coasted the final 2 minutes of the half. And what happened...the Bobcats trimmed the 18 point lead to 8 at half time and had ALLLLLLLLL!!!!! the momentum going into the second half. We never recovered after that. We are not yet good enough to let our foot off the gas.

This loss hurt the most because while all the other playoff teams are ratcheting up, we had a game, that was a victory, slip out of our hands because we lolly gagged. I, from what I've seen THIS season, expect better, and I hope the players and coaches feel the same way now.

We were up 19 in the second...

[Durantulosha]

It is time to stop comparing everything to last season. Mentally, this is a completely different team. They are on a higher plane. We are now a bonafided playoff team. Any comparison with this team has to come from this season.

And this was probably the worst loss of the season. Not in terms of how much we lost by. The Denver loss, the Boston loss, and the Orlando loss on the road all come to mind. But instead, how we lost the game (especially considering the time of year it is). We were up by 18 with 2 minutes to play in the first half. We were playing the first half with a killer instinct. And then all the sudden, we let our foot off the gas, got comfortable and coasted the final 2 minutes of the half. And what happened...the Bobcats trimmed the 18 point lead to 8 at half time and had ALLLLLLLLL!!!!! the momentum going into the second half. We never recovered after that. We are not yet good enough to let our foot off the gas.

This loss hurt the most because while all the other playoff teams are ratcheting up, we had a game, that was a victory, slip out of our hands because we lolly gagged. I, from what I've seen THIS season, expect better, and I hope the players and coaches feel the same way now.

Absolutely.....this was a great opportunity and we screwed up, but not becuz we weren't good enough to win, simply becuz we we jacked around like a bunch of cocky little jerks. That's not the way to play. When you know you're a good enough team to get it done becuz of your talent and team chemistry, you've gotta play every second like it counts, you can't pick and choose when you're gonna be aggressive and when you're gonna defend. It doesn't work that way. We've beaten much better teams on the road this year and this was a very winable game. We made them look silly early, and then just totally let up, and in the end they were laughing at us. It was a piss-poor effort overall. One great quarter doesn't mean anything. We're a good team no doubt and it's pretty remarkable to be this good this soon, our focus has been good more often than not lately, that's why our record looks so good now....but tonight really pissed me off. I hope they have a better attitude against Toronto and Indy, becuz those are also very winable games, and we need to get em.

[Rumble]

What the heck happened?? OMG! I was in shock. I was at work tonight. Check the game on the radio. We are up by 19pts with 2:45 or so left in the half. Check back about 30 minutes later, and we're up by 4pts! Check it 10 minutes later, and we freaking behind! I hope the game is on again tonight, so I can check it out.

Thats a bunch of crap being up by 19pts, and losing the dang game! Geeeeeez.

[Durantulosha]

It was definitely bad. I've never seen anything like it from our team. I know we had our tough times last year, and we were on the receiving end of a few blowouts this year (@Denver, @Orlando, Boston like Rican said).....but to be where we are now with all the improvement we've made, and lose this game that way was really disappointing. If you didn't watch any of the game, you would have thought we never led at all and we might as well have been the New Jersey Nets. That's how bad it was. I thought the Denver game was our big wake up call, but I guess that wasn't the end of it. Tonight should have sent our guys just as much of a message as that game at Denver. Hopefully, we'll put this one behind us and go take care of Toronto and Indy.

[KDisNotNice]

We've won 17 of our last 21 games. We were overdue for a real clunker. The Spurs got killed last night by the Magic and the Hornets blew an even bigger lead than we did to the lowly Warriors. As long as we get back on track for these next 2 road games, then we are still on a real good roll.

[thundafan]

Good point. This is an 80+ game marathon. Leads will be blown, players will get lazy and players will get sloppy...every team, every season, without fail. Let's not get our panties in a wod. As he mentioned, we have won 17 out of the last 21. That is ridiculous in itself.